Arabesque

1
Arabesque
2
(No Transcript)
3

• The arabesque is an elaborative application of
  repeating geometric forms that often echo the
  forms of plants and animals.
• Arabesques are an element of Islamic art usually
  found decorating the walls of mosques. The choice
  of which geometric forms are to be used and how
  they are to be formatted is based upon the
  Islamic view of the world.
• To Muslims, these forms, taken together,
  constitute an infinite pattern that extends
  beyond the visible material world. To many in the
  Islamic world, they in fact symbolize the
  infinite, and therefore uncentralized, nature of
  the creation of the one God (Allah).
• Furthermore, the Islamic Arabesque artist conveys
  a definite spirituality without the iconography
  of Christian art.

4

• History
• Geometric artwork in the form of the arabesque
  was not widely used in the Islamic world until
  the golden age of Islam came into full bloom.
• During this time, ancient texts were translated
  from their original Greek and Latin into Arabic
  at the House of Wisdom an academic research
  institution in Baghdad.
• Like the following Renaissance in Europe,
  mathematics, science, literature and history were
  infused into the Islamic world with great, mostly
  positive repercussions.

5

• The works of Plato and especially of Euclid
  became popular among the literate.
• In fact, it was Euclid's geometry along with the
  foundations of trigonometry codified by
  Pythagoras that were expounded on by Al-Jawhari
  (ca.800-860), whose Commentary on Euclid's
  Elements became the impetus of the art form that
  was to become the Arabesque.
• Furthermore, Plato's ideas about the existence of
  a separate reality that was perfect in form and
  function and crystalline in character also would
  contribute to the development of the Arabesque.

6

• Description and symbolism
• Arabesque art consists of a series of repeating
  geometric forms which are occasionally
  accompanied by calligraphy.
• Ettinghausen et al. describe the arabesque as a
  "vegetal design consisting of full...and half
  palmettes as an unending continuous
  pattern...in which each leaf grows out of the tip
  of another."
• To the adherents of Islam, the Arabesque are
  symbolic of their united faith and the way in
  which traditional Islamic cultures view the world.

7

• Two modes
• There are two modes to arabesque art. The first
  recalls the principles that govern the order of
  the world.
• These principles include the bare basics of what
  makes objects structurally sound and, by
  extension, beautiful (i.e. the angle and the
  fixed/static shapes that it creates -- esp. the
  truss).
• In the first mode, each repeating geometric form
  has a built-in symbolism ascribed to it.

8

• For example, the square, with its four
  equilateral sides, is symbolic of the equally
  important elements of nature earth, air, fire
  and water.
• Without any one of the four, the physical world,
  represented by a circle that inscribes the
  square, would collapse upon itself and cease to
  exist. The second mode is based upon the flowing
  nature of plant forms.
• This mode recalls the feminine nature of life
  giving. In addition, upon inspection of the many
  examples of Arabesque art, some would argue that
  there is in fact a third mode, the mode of Arabic
  calligraphy.

9

• Calligraphy
• Instead of recalling something related to the
  'True Reality' (the reality of the spiritual
  world), for the Muslim calligraphy is a visible
  expression of the highest art of all the art of
  the spoken word (the transmittal of thoughts and
  of history).
• In Islam, the most important document to be
  transmitted orally is, of course, the Qur'an.
• Proverbs and complete passages from the Qur'an
  can be seen today in Arabesque art. The coming
  together of these three forms creates the
  Arabesque, and this is a reflection of unity
  arising from diversity (a basic tenet of Islam).

10

• Role
• The arabesque can also be equally thought of as
  both art and science, some say.
• The artwork is at the same time mathematically
  precise, aesthetically pleasing, and symbolic. So
  due to this duality of creation, they say, the
  artistic part of this equation can be further
  subdivided into both secular and religious
  artwork.
• However, for many Muslims there is no
  distinction all forms of art, the natural world,
  mathematics and science are all creations of God
  and therefore are reflections of the same thing
  (God's will expressed through His Creation).
• In other words, man can discover the geometric
  forms that constitute the Arabesque, but these
  forms always existed before as part of God's
  creation, as shown in this picture.

11

• Order and unity
• There is great similarity between arabesque
  artwork from very different geographic regions.
  In fact, the similarities are so pronounced, that
  it is sometimes difficult for experts to tell
  where a given style of arabesque comes from.
• The reason for this is that the science and
  mathematics that are used to construct Arabesque
  artwork are universal.
• Therefore, for most Muslims, the best artwork
  that can be created by man for use in the Mosque
  is artwork that displays the underlying order and
  unity of nature.

12

• The order and unity of the material world, they
  believe, is a mere ghostly approximation of the
  spiritual world (which for many Muslims is the
  place where the only true reality exists).
  Discovered geometric forms, therefore, exemplify
  this perfect reality because God's creation has
  been obscured by the sins of man.
• In fact, Sufi Muslims believe that there is no
  distinction between the spiritual and material
  worlds.
• They also believe that the reason we cannot
  experience the spiritual world is that there are
  'veils of concealment' that shield us from the
  perfection of the spiritual world. They therefore
  work to lift these veils, in order to become one
  with God while they are still on Earth. One of
  the ways that Sufi Muslims try to do this is to
  use the arabesque in depictions of the world.